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7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 NOVEMBER 2025 NEWS CHRISTOPHER Farrugia started sus- pecting something was wrong with his uncle George Farrugia when he started noticing the latter's lavish lifestyle—it jarred with how his brothers lived. Testifying in court, Christopher Far- rugia recounted how on one occasion his uncle had bought an €83,000 watch in front of him. On another occasion, George Farrugia had showed his neph- ew photos of a collector's car, only to buy two of them valued at €130,000, the fol- lowing weekend. Christopher Farrugia told the court that a week later, his uncle bought a garage to house the vehicles. George Farrugia also owned a field for recreation and a large plot of land in Għargħur. All this jarred with the simpler lifestyle of his siblings and when Chris confront- ed George about his lavish spending, the latter said he was being helped by his fa- ther-in-law. This was a lie, Christopher testified. But it was George's oversight when go- ing abroad that led Christopher to dis- cover his uncle's fraudulent behaviour. George had left his iPad on his desk and when Christopher touched the screen— it had no password—an invoice identical to those issued by Power Plan appeared but with banking details of Aikon in- stead. The invoice was for the sale of fuel. Christopher testified that he tried to verify who Aikon belonged to with the business regis- try at the Malta Financial Services Authority but discovered it was owned by fiduciary company. Aikon was set up in Oc- tober 2002, years after Power Plan was set up but being a nom- inee company, its ultimate beneficial owner was hidden. Christopher then searched on the company server for the name Aikon and came across KYC (know your client) forms that showed it belonged to George Farrugia. He also discovered the com- pany held accounts at APS, BOV and in Switzerland. With this information, Christopher in- formed his other uncles and they com- missioned an investigative audit. The results showed that for every 10 invoices issued by George Farrugia and his wife Catherine Farrugia, two would be cor- rectly attested to Power Plan and eight to Aikon. Power Plan had agreements with Tot- sa and Trafigura, international oil sup- pliers, but George entered into parallel agreements with them for Aikon. After confronting George with their findings, the brothers sued him over what they claimed was theft of business that was due to the family firm. Christopher told the court that it was his uncle's wife, Catherine, who was the true accomplice in the crime. She was on all correspondence that had to do with invoicing and billing for Aikon and Power Plan. On one occasion, Catherine also gave written in- structions asking for payments to be made in Switzerland. Eventually, it transpired that George Farrugia would use the Swiss account to pay off En- emalta officials as pay- back for oil tenders he managed to secure for his suppliers. every 10 invoices issued, make out two for Power Plan and eight for Aikon. "This is fraud as clear as crystal being perpetrated behind his brothers' backs," the defence lawyer argued in his submis- sions. A brochure instead of bank statements But the defence also questioned whether George Farrugia was in breach of the presidential pardon's condition to tell all the truth when he failed to provide banking statements for Aikon's Swiss account. Instead, in court, George Farrugia presented a brochure of Bank Privee Edmond de Rothschild SA Gen- eve. The brothers argued that banking statements would have uncovered who received payments from this secretive account. "It is clear that George Farrugia is in breach of the presidential pardon when he does not provide the banking docu- ments of the account held in Switzer- land by Aikon Ltd and instead, to spite everyone else, presents a brochure of the bank… which is frankly a shameful way of laughing in everyone's face," the brothers argued. They also noted George Farrugia's inability under cross-examination to remember the Swiss bank's name. "Eh, eh, Edward, Richmond, something like that… something Rothschild, Roth- schild," Farrugia had testified when questioned by the court in one of the sittings. Farrugia had also admitted in court that he was not transparent enough with his brothers about Aikon Ltd. He also con- firmed on oath that his brothers never received any payment from the secretive company. George Farrugia claimed that on one occasion, he travelled to Swit- zerland to withdraw $20,000 to pass on to Tancred Tabone, who wanted to get paid in cash. The brothers are insisting they are innocent and should be acquitted of all charges. The case is being heard by Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace. How George's devious plan unravelled Enemalta oil scandal insist on innocence and secret bank account in Switzerland to hide his illicit actions. Nonetheless, George Farrugia was granted a complicity. Francis Portelli (centre) with Anthony Cassar (right) emerging from court during one of the sittings in the compilation of evidence. The case against them is still ongoing.